College Football Playoff Will Nearly Double Financial Gain For Power Five Conferences

The Power Five conferences will "almost double their financial haul in the College Football Playoff's first season as compared to the final year of the Bowl Championship Series," according to a front-page piece by George Schroeder of USA TODAY. The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC each will "draw a baseline amount" of approximately $50M in the first year of a 12-year contract. The other five FBS-level leagues "will split" $75M -- more than "five times greater than their combined payday" in '13. The total TV revenue from ESPN has not been disclosed, and CFP Exec Dir Bill Hancock declined comment. But it reportedly will "average at least" $470M annually over the life of the contract. Ticket and merchandising sales and sponsorship deals could add an average of $40-50M annually. The "baseline distribution" to the Power Five conferences and the American Athletic Conference during the final year of the BCS was $27.897M. The MAC, Conference USA, Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences split $13.168M (USA TODAY, 7/17).